Auburn--November 30, 2015

Dear Family,

Thank you for your love and support. This week was a really rough week. We taught no lessons this week. I can see the Lord's hand though because we found 16 new potential investigators. So that's a bonus. It's really disappointing when your investigators are really busy and don't make time to meet. I feel like some of them are just falling through the cracks. “L” is slipping away from us. She really doubts her decision to learn about the church. She is hanging out with the wrong crowd. We met one of her friends and he was just really disrespectful, rude, and obnoxious. His name was “T”. She tells us that she has temptations with drugs, sex, and bad language. She's only 15 years old. That's Aaron's age. My heart breaks for her.

Sometimes it's really hard to watch those that you care for make all the wrong decisions. I took a step back and realized that at one point, I was Lexi. I wasn't making the right decisions. I teetered back and forth between wanting to change and being afraid to change. It took lots of love and support from good friends, leaders, and parents. I keep praying for her. That's all we can do for right now.

I'm glad you had a good Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Church. It was sponsored by the VanQuill's for anyone in the ward that had no family in town for the Holidays. Bishop and his wife were there. There were a few other members there as well. Sister Mitchell came. It was really good too! It was a great experience.

Thanks for sending a sweater! I look forward to it.

Thank you so much Grandma for the money. I love you so very much. I also had a question about music. What is the difference between time signatures like 2/4 and 4/8? Are they conducted differently? Do they differ in tempo or expression? In 4/8 do you conduct 2 or 4 beats to a measure? I hope you are doing well. I keep meaning to write letters home, but it's really hard to find time on P-day. I will be writing handwritten letters today though. 

Jessica and Aaron, Mockingjay 2 sounds awesome! I hope you two are doing well. Jessica, send me a picture of you with your braces off! I want to see your beautiful face!!! I'll be sending some pics from Elder Samuels' camera. Also Jessica, I was wondering if you would send a copy of your patriarchal blessing. I was excited to have you read my blessing. I wouldn't show it to anyone else.  

Sarah, I love the Saul to Paul conversion story. I've read it a few times before. Some of my favorite scriptures are in the epistles, after Jesus leaves and the apostles are leading the church. I love how devoted they were to missionary work and how patient they were in trials. There is so much that you can learn from their examples. I wish that I could go to the temple every day, but we only get to go once a year. Cherish those moments when you get to do baptisms for the dead. Then you'll be prepared for the day when you get your endowment. It is a really cool experience. 

I love you all so much. I know that we'll be together FOREVER! 

Love,

Elder Herbert

Auburn--November 23, 2015

Dear Family,

Elder Herbert and Elder Samuels

Thank you so much for the pictures! I'm glad that Sister “A” was able to send you a picture of me. This week was good. We had snow on Elder Samuels' birthday but it hasn't snowed since. It's actually been pretty sunny lately. It gets really frosty in the morning. We bought a bear claw window scraper at Fred Meyer's last P-Day. It works great! Thank you for the extra money. I was able to buy socks, but I also got gloves, ate out a couple of times, and bought stuff to paint with. I'd actually like to know how much you put on my card. I would really like some snacks and treats. I'd also like a gift card to Wendy's and Taco Bell. I'm out of money this month. Elder Samuels is too. We thought we'd buy everything at the beginning of the month so it would last for the transfer, but it didn't work. We don't even have money for milk. That's pretty much it. If you could, could I get more money on my card? I'll need it to purchase a new sweater and boots. I have my shoes from a couple months ago but they aren't warm enough for my feet. 

Elder Herbert

This week, we met with Sister “M” again and out of the blue she told us that a coworker has been reading the Book of Mormon with her. We challenged her to invite her coworker over to her house for a lesson! We are so excited! This week, I have been focusing a lot on reading the scriptures and praying with real intent. Elder Samuels says it's really cool how I'm able to pray and immediately recognize the answer. It's because I've actually been asking questions as I pray. The more specific your questions, the more specific answers you'll receive. That is what we learned about in Zone conference this week. It was a neat experience. This week, I am going to be focused on receiving answers to prayer in the scriptures. 

Thank you so much for everything you do.     

P.S.  Elder Samuels is bummed that you haven't e-mailed him anymore. He'd like to hear from you again. 

I love you all so much.

Elder Herbert

Auburn--November 9, 2015

Elder Herbert in the woods

Dear forever family,

I'm so happy to hear that you are ponderizing the scriptures. As a mission, we have a ponderizing scripture once a week. This week ours is 2 Nephi 9:23. It goes along with our goal of baptizing 40 people this month. This week, we found a new investigator. Her name is “C”. She is 10 years old and she's really shy. She is “L P”'s sister. We've been teaching “L P” for a couple weeks now. She is 15 years old and she's been to church a few times. She is a really smart girl. She has lots of friends from school that are in our ward. She agreed to be baptized. Her date was November 21st but we'll have to push it back because we haven't taught the Word of Wisdom yet. We committed “C”n for baptism on December 19. It was funny. “L” said, "If I have to get dunked, you're going down with me." 

I love you all so much. Dad, thank you for sharing what you learned in Priesthood. I'd actually love to hear some mission stories from you and mom so I can learn what sort of things you experienced as well. I haven't been as diligent at keeping a journal, but I've been spending some of my free time writing poems and drawing. I bought blank sheet music so I can write songs on the piano. Elder Samuels and I love to play music together. He's phenomenal at the guitar. Thank you mom for putting money on my card.

Elder Herbert and Elder Samuels

Mom, it's exciting that you're getting your endorsement to teach ESL. It's funny because that's actually one of the suggestions in our daily planner for finding people to teach. It's one of those things that's hard to advertise and organize. I don't even know where I'd begin.

Jessica, I'm so excited for you and your externship at the Pharmacy. How did you decide that's what you wanted to do? 

I can't wait to hear from you next week.

Love,

Elder Herbert

Auburn-November 2, 2015

Dear Family,

Jessica, do you know when “J H” is getting here? I'd love to meet him! I'm glad that your week went well. Sadly, “C G” moved to another town. We're trying to get in contact with him by phone, but he's not responding :( Oh well. That's how missionary work goes. I hope you enjoy reading about the experiences that I have. It leads me to think about what my siblings think about serving missions. I hope every one of you desires to serve a mission. That's one thing I wanted to ask Jessica. Do you have plans to serve a mission? I know that it would bless your life tremendously. I hope my letters have made you consider it. And even if you don't I hope they inspire you to grow spiritually.

I was also wondering if you wouldn't mind sending me a copy of your patriarchal blessing. I was so excited to hear that you made the decision to get one! Even though it gets rough and tough from time to time, serving a mission is the greatest experience I've ever had. I feel closer to God than at any time in my life. It can be daunting to see where people are now and what they need to do to get eternal life, but I've met so many people that have unlocked the powers of the atonement to truly turn their lives around. One of those people is Brother “S”. It is a testimony to me that no matter what you do, be it drugs, immorality, alcohol, or theft, you can change. You can also bring the spirit with you wherever you go. In almost every area I've served there have been places that are less than appealing. But you can truly bring the light of the gospel wherever you go. These people have broken families, parents that use drugs, and family members involved with gangs. But when you bring the gospel, they see what you have, and they want a taste of it. I know that the atonement has the power to lift people out of the world, no matter their background because God loves each of His children, no matter what.

I went with a recently returned missionary to the baptism, and Elder Samuels stayed with a member for the ward Halloween party. The RM is “C M”, and he served a mission in Santa Rosa California. He and I went to my favorite Filipino restaurant in Kent and we had great food! Then we went to the baptism. I actually gave the talk on baptism. The spirit was so strong. If I could describe it, it was like someone took a bucket of hot water and dumped it on me. It was electrifying. Baptisms are one of the best places to feel the spirit. When they are conducted properly, it's like attending the temple. 

I can't wait to hear from you again next week!

Love,

Elder Herbert